HORIZONS JOHN KILEY
TRAVER GALLERY
JOHN KILEY HORIZONS
Traver Gallery, August 2–30, 2025
Traver Gallery is pleased to introduce this milestone exhibition, Horizons , by John Kiley. One of the most celebrated artists working in glass today, Kiley’s refined and detailed work employs a minimalist aesthetic along with considered technical glass-working expertise to engage a dialog of how light, line, form, transparency and reflection can define and defy our understanding of spa ce. Using primary geometric forms as the architecture for his glass sculptures Kiley’s work explores the versatility, and mutability of glass, and with it, expands our view of the material as a sculptural medium.
In his words, “I began developing this new body of work called Horizons five years ago, following several years focused on my Fractographs . Like the Fractographs , each Horizon sculpture begins with a mass of optical glass that is ground and polished into a rectangle. However, with this new series, instead of shattering the glass, I cut each block into sections that abstractly reference the forms created when a block of glass is broken. Although the segments can be loosely reassembled into a rectangular form, they are intentionally made not to fit perfectly back together, making the negative space just as integral to the work as the structure itself. These compositions are moveable, offering opportunities for revision and interaction. How each individual segment stands, balances, or not, is determined only by how I draw the initial line. The final placement of the piec es is subjective - its iterations infinite- but every element remains part of a once clearly defined form that had a beginning and an end”.
John’s work has been exhibited at galleries and museums around the world. He has been a visiting instructor at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland, The Bezalel Academy of Art And Design in Jerusalem, Israel, The Pittsburgh Glass Center and Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA. He has worked and demonstrated in Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, China, Australia, Brazil and Turkey.
ARTWORK DETAILS (by page number)
NEODYMIUM HORIZON
2025
optic glass
20.25 x 26 x 10 inches
BLUE HORIZON
2025
optic glass
10.5 x 25 x 7 inches
HONEY HORIZON
2025
optic glass
24.5 x 20.5 x 6 inches
GOLDEN HORIZON 2025 optic glass 11 x 24 x 7 inches
SEAFOAM GREEN HORIZON
2025
optic glass
10 x 25 x 7 inches
PINK HORIZON 2025
photos by Ben VanHouten